Peter Yarrow

Legendary musician, songwriter, and children’s author Peter Yarrow is perhaps best known for his career as part of the beloved trio Peter, Paul & Mary; yet he is also a spirited activist who has committed his time and musical talents to promoting many worthy causes from civil rights, gender equality, and environmental issues to educating children about treating each other with kindness and respect through his non-profit, Operation Respect. In this family-oriented performance, Yarrow performs heartwarming renditions of the iconic songs we all know and love, such as “If I Had a Hammer,” ”Puff the Magic Dragon,” “Blowin’ in the Wind,” “Leaving on a Jet Plane" and many more.

Artist Bio

Peter Yarrow found fame with the 1960s folk music trio Peter, Paul and Mary. Yarrow co-wrote (with Leonard Lipton) one of the group's most famous songs, "Puff, the Magic Dragon". He is also a political activist and has lent his support to causes that range from opposition to the Vietnam War to the creation of Operation Respect.

Peter Yarrow was born in New York City, New York. He graduated from New York City's High School of Music and Art. His singing career began after he graduated from Cornell University, in 1959. Soon, Yarrow met Noel "Paul" Stookey and Mary Travers in New York City's Greenwich Village, center of the mid-20th century American folk music revival. By 1962, Warner Bros. Records released the trio's first album, the eponymous Peter, Paul & Mary. The album remained in the Top Ten for ten months, in the Top Twenty for two years and sold more than two million copies. The group toured extensively and recorded numerous albums, both live and in the studio. In October 1969, Yarrow married Mary Beth McCarthy of Willmar, Minnesota. Paul wrote "The Wedding Song (There is Love)", as his gift for their wedding and first performed it at St. Mary's Church in Willmar. He has two adult children.

In 2000, he founded Operation Respect. On behalf of Operation Respect, Yarrow has appeared, pro bono, in areas as diverse as Hong Kong, Vietnam, Bermuda, Croatia, South Africa, Egypt, Argentina and Canada. In all, the program has been presented to many educational leaders and more than 10 million children. In some form, the project has reached nearly ⅓ of all elementary and middle schools in America; at least 20,000 schools, in all.

In 2003, a Congressional resolution recognized Yarrow's achievements and those of Operation Respect. The Congressional Caucus gave him a standing ovation. In August, 2006, he met with representatives of 35 organizations, including the League of Cities, the Academy of Education, Americans for the Arts, and Newspapers in Education, to unite them in a commitment to “...shifting the American educational paradigm, to educating the whole child; not just in academics but in character, heart, social-emotional development.